Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Taking a Stab at Homeschooling in Utah

"5 students stabbed at Utah school; teen in custody" by Brad McCombs and Lindsay Whitehurst Associated Press November 16, 2016

OREM, Utah — As a group of boys at a Utah high school changed Tuesday morning into gym clothes for physical education class, a straight-A student pulled out a knife in the locker room and stabbed five of his classmates, sending the injured running for their lives and covered in blood, police said.

The 16-year-old suspect, with no record of disciplinary trouble, also stabbed himself in the neck and was cornered by school workers until a police officer assigned to Mountain View High School got to the locker room and subdued him with a Taser shot.

The five victims are all expected to survive, hospital officials said Tuesday afternoon. The two most seriously injured were in critical but stable condition, according to Utah Valley Hospital.

The suspect was treated and released following the attack, which spread fear and panic among students who described a gruesome scene immediately after the stabbings.

Orem police posted a letter online they said was from the parents of the teen, apologizing. They said none of the victims had done anything to hurt their son and said the stabbings were not racially or ethnically motivated.

‘‘We are at a loss to express how deeply sorry we are for the pain and injury caused,’’ the letter says.

Police said the knife used in the attack had a 3-inch blade, but they did not identify the suspect who remained in custody by name because of his age.

School district spokeswoman Kimberly Bird said the suspect was a new sophomore student who was previously homeschooled.Aaaaaaah! Can't have that!

The school bans weapons, but doesn’t have metal detectors or other security procedures to check students each day, she said. It’s unlikely they'll implement any of those now, either, because they don’t want to make the school feel like a prison, Bird said....They have for a long time anyway!

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